Stratfor

Stratfor - which is also known as Strategic Forecasting, Inc. - is a private company that provides strategic and issues management intelligence analysis to corporations and governments.

The company, founded in 1996, is based in Austin, Texas and boasts that it has "an intelligence network located throughout the world."

"Stratfor is the world's leading private intelligence firm providing corporations, governments and individuals with geopolitical analysis and forecasts that enable them to manage risk and to anticipate political, economic and security issues vital to their interests," it states on its website. 

Al Giordano, details what he calls "20 Stratfor Lies about Latin America":
 * Stratfor is one of these snake-oil disinfo sales firms that traffics in "intelligence briefings" for people gullible enough to pay for them. Imagine that: you can get lied to for free all over this great land, but some people actually pay to be deceived!


 * Stratfor's track record in Latin America is abhorrent (how many years in a row did it predict that Hugo Chavez would not survive that year as Venezuela's president?). It's "spin" is ideological: pro-corporate, which is no surprise, given that it's undisclosed clientele purchases something called "Business Intelligence Services."


 * In my opinion, Stratfor engages in circulating disinformation into the datasphere through its free and paid email memos in ways that seem aimed to help the agendas of that very same corporate world that contracts its services.

In March 2004, Bart Mongoven from Stratfor's Washington D.C. office appeared on a panel - Strategies for Dealing with Environmental Litigation - at the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas. (Also appearing on the panel were Marc Sisk, Dorsey & Whitney, Washington, DC and Stephen Brown from The Dutko Group LLC). 

Mongoven warned industry leaders about the increasing collaboration between environmental groups and patients groups on the issue of exposure to chemicals. Washington D.C. trade magazine, Inside EPA, reported Mongoven told the NPRA that "in five years, the environmental community would like to see all debates [be about] the environment and health." Mongoven nominated Collaborative on Health and the Environment as an example of the new approach.

According to Inside EPA, Mongoven said that the collaboration was broadening the debate beyond exposure to pesticides to the health impacts of industrial emissions. According to Inside EPA, he suggested that one option for industry to counter this development was to dismiss advocates stated public health goal and instead portray them as being "anti-chemical".

Personnel

 * George Friedman - Founder, CEO
 * Bart Mongoven

Contact information
700 Lavaca Street, Suite 900 Austin, TX 78701 Tel: +1 (512) 744-4300 Fax: +1 (512) 744-4334 Web: http://www.stratfor.com

External articles

 * Al Giordano,"Stratfor Lies about Latin America", November 21, 2003. This is a response to a briefing on Latin American promulgated by Stratfor but not freely available on its website.
 * Manu Raju, "Industry Fears Growing Role Of Patient Groups In Environment Lobby", Inside EPA, March 24, 2004.